Parties argued final motions, including a prosecution request to exclude evidence of the victim’s violent character, before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on July 21.
Vanessa Bonaparte, 34, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed and destruction of property 1,000 dollars or more for her alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of Dwayne Boyd, 31, on the 3500 block of East Capitol Street, SE on June 22, 2024. Boyd sustained at least two stab wounds to his chest.
Bonaparte was not present in court. Following her mother’s recent death, Bonaparte refused to come to court, delaying the trial’s start until July 28. In her absence, her attorneys Kevann Gardner and Roderick Thompson, argued motions on her behalf.
The prosecution moved to exclude evidence of Boyd’s violent character. Gardner was seeking to admit a 2015 domestic violence complaint against Boyd. Prosecutors argued that the defense’s evidence was not admissible.
According to the prosecution, Gardner would not be able to prove that the character evidence was close enough in time to Boyd’s murder.
Gardner argued that the 2015 incident formed a pattern of incidents he planned to admit into evidence, accompanying complaints from 2018, 2023, and 2024. He said that because of the pattern, the concern about closeness in time should be disregarded.
Judge Kravitz noted that the 2018 complaint has not been confirmed yet, saying that it “may be a bit premature to have this discussion.” He asked Gardner to contact the victim of the 2018 complaint. Gardner agreed to reach out, but could not give a deadline because of his investigator’s schedule.
Prosecutors also argued that the character evidence would confuse the jury. They said it would make the jury look at Boyd as a “good guy” or a “bad guy,” instead of evaluating the evidence properly. Judge Kravitz disagreed, offering to provide a limiting instruction he believed the jury would abide by.
While he did not plan to make a ruling until after Gardner contacts the 2018 victim, Judge Kravitz said that he is “inclined to allow” the evidence of Boyd’s character.
Prosecutors requested a jury selection “voir dire” question, meant to eliminate potential jurors with bias. They said that a witness will testify to getting an abortion, which reportedly angered Boyd. The prosecutors requested a line of questioning that would determine whether any potential jurors had a bias against abortions.
Gardner argued that the witness did not have an abortion, but instead used Plan B, a retroactive contraceptive. He asked for the removal of the question and for the witness to testify to using Plan B instead of having an abortion.
Parties claimed the witness previously testified to the grand jury that it was an abortion, but told investigators that it was Plan B. Judge Kravitz said, “we just need to clarify.” He asked prosecutors to reach out to the witness and clarify her testimony before adding or removing the questions at issue.
The courtroom clerk alerted Judge Kravitz that Thompson had not been officially assigned as Bonaparte’s attorney. Thompson apologized, offering to file a motion to be formally appointed as counsel by the end of the night. Judge Kravitz denied the formal motion, saying that the clerk could add Thompson without a formal motion.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene for jury selection on July 23.
